Waxillium Ladrian, or Wax for short, is a Twinborn and High Lord of House Ladrian on Scadrial. He lived as a lawman for twenty years in the Roughs, but returned to Elendel to become High Lord of his House when his uncle allegedly died in a carriage accident. Wax's sister, Telsin, is also presumed dead, killed in the same accident.

Wax is tall[3] with an intense face and eyes that are sometimes described to be as cold as icicles.[3] Though the twenty years he spent living in the Roughs have taken their toll on his appearance[3], leaving his hands calloused[4] and his dark hair streaked with gray, he still maintains the lean, muscular body of his youth.[5] Accustomed to regularly sitting for a shave [6], Wax still believes he could use a nice scar on his face, in good Roughs fashion.[5]

In addition to his metalminds, a pair of iron bracers he wears on his upper arms typically hidden by the cuffs of his sleeves[7], Wax favors wearing an aluminum-lined, Roughs-style hat, as well as a long, mistcloak duster over his fine city suit, vest, and cravat.[8] Wax tends to be unnaturally light on his feet, due to his habit of nearly constantly filling his metalminds with a small percentage of his weight.[9]

When on patrol, Wax adds a shotgun to the pocket of his tasseled mistcloak and straps on a gunbelt fully stocked with spent bullet casings and whiskey-filled metal vials, to compliment the dual pistols holstered on his hips.[10]

“ His clothing was terribly dusty, but well tailored: a fine suit, a silver cravat at the neck, twinkling cuff links on the sleeves of his fine white shirt. He had cultivated a look that appeared out of place, as if he were planning to attend a fine ball back in Elendel rather than scrambling through a dead town in the Roughs hunting a murderer.
”

Wax is temperamental[3], rough around the edges and distrustful of modern noble society, disliking the "games" of the big city. He admires the simplicity of the Roughs, where trouble is solved quickly and one man with a gun can make a difference, contrasting the politics of Elendel, where the great houses hide their true intentions behind fake smiles and outright lies.

Waxillium is a descendant of Edgard Ladrian and Allrianne Cett. He is of mixed heritage, with Terris on his mother's side and Noble on his father's side,[12] and he is said to have more Terris blood than most.[8] He was raised under a noble house and lived a life of luxury--something he detested.[13] He and his sister, Telsin, were mostly raised by their uncle in Elendel.[8] At the age of 12, his uncle began grooming him to run the family-operated First Central Bank. Wax became disgusted by the unethical practices of the bank and distanced himself from the role.[14]

At the age of 15, Wax spent a year living in the Village, with the option to stay if he wished. During his last months in the Village, he encountered Forch, a Twinborn Terris boy who committed arson. Wax investigated the crime and brought his evidence to the attention of the constables, but this was ultimately disregarded by his grandmother who insisted that the Terris people manage themselves and their criminals. Wax unintentionally spotted Forch later that night and believed he was going to commit arson again. Investigating further, Wax unknowingly stumbled upon Forch attempting to dissect a living boy he had kidnapped. Despite being heavily outmatched by another Twinborn, Wax ultimately killed Forch in self defense during a Steelpushing battle, rescuing the child from him.[15]

In his early years in the Roughs, Wax developed an image of himself as a "Gentleman Bounty Hunter"; although initially incompetent and unfamiliar with his Twinborn abilities, he would eventually hone them. He pro-actively worked with other law enforcers in the area, eventually working with Jon Deadfinger and finding a 17 year old Wayne who he would ultimately spare from execution and turn his life around to become a lawman.[16]

During a bounty claim on Granite Joe, he would encountered Lessie--a woman he would fall in love with and eventually marry.[16]

After the reported death of his uncle, Wax was implored to return to Elendel to begin managing the ledgers of his house. Initially ignoring this request, Wax chose instead to hunt the murderous Bloody Tan as his final bounty. In a horrifying turn of events, Waxillium mistakenly shot Lessie in the forehead when he attempted to free her from Bloody Tan's clutches. With nothing left for him in the Roughs, Wax returned to his family mansion in Elendel.[17]

In his early months in Elendel, Wax earned a reputation for frequently disappearing early from social functions, preferring to steel-push through the mists, in patrol of the city. On one such night, Waxillium paused his patrol and intervened in a shootout. Believing he heard a woman's whimper, which reminded him of Lessie, Wax froze during the gunfight. Coming to the conclusion that he was no longer capable of being a lawman, and with the effectiveness of the city constabulary forcing him to face the irrelevance of vigilante justice in general, Wax hung up his guns for good.[10]

Throwing himself into the much more mundane effort of saving his house's financial future, Waxillium spent half a year working to reverse his late uncle's squandering of the family funds. Believing there was no other choice, he entered into a marriage agreement with Lord Harms' daughter, Steris, hopeful that her father's money would help bring House Ladrian back from the brink of destitution. That same day, Wayne, an old partner from his time in the Roughs, re-entered Wax's life--carrying with him an aluminum bullet and a tantalizing mystery surrounding a gang of train robbers known as the Vanishers, which threatened to draw Wax away from his house responsibilities and right back into the life of a lawman.[7]

Against his better judgement, and under the disapproving eye of his butler, Tillaume, Wax began to piece together the history of the Vanishers, hoping to discover the reason for their unorthodox targets as well as the secret behind the way they commit their crimes. Realizing the distraction this had created for his house duties, Waxillium endeavored to put away this new obsession and attended the Yomen-Ostlin wedding dinner with Steris, marking their public debut as a couple.[19]

“It was so hard not to recall the sight of him breaking through the line of tables, gun in hand as he expertly felled two of the men trying to haul her out into the night. Or the sight of him soaring through the air—gunshots exploding up from beneath, the chandeliers shattering and crystal spraying light around him—as he shot a man from midair and dropped to rescue his friend. She was talking to a legend.”

After the wedding was interrupted by the arrival of bandits from the Vanishers gang, who proceeded to rob the lords and ladies in attendance at gunpoint, Wax initially refused Wayne's insistence that he take up a pistol--having convinced himself that the Elendel constabulary would be able to handle the disturbance with far less bloodshed. When the gang went too far, killing a man and taking Steris as a hostage, Wax admitted that he could not stand idly by, and attacked the gang with his backup pistols and the full fury of his Steelpushing.[21] In the ensuing gunfight, Wax, Wayne, and Steris' cousin Marasi worked together to subdue the majority of the attackers, while successfully minimizing civilian casualties. When Marasi was suddenly held at gunpoint by one of the gang, in the same fashion as Lessie a year ago, Wax nearly froze up again. Marasi struggled, successfully stunning the Vanisher holding her, momentarily opening up the shot for Wax--forcing him to make a choice to overcome his fear to pull the trigger and save her. As the robbers retreated, Waxillium was surprised to discover the identity of the Vanishers' leader, Miles "Hundredlives" Dagouter--another former lawman from the Roughs.[22]

With Steris kidnapped, Wax re-doubled his efforts into his previous investigation. Having obtained one of the Vanishers' aluminum guns, Wax poured himself into researching its makeup and possible origin as well as uncovering the mystery of the Vanishers' ultimate goal.[20] In the middle of his investigation, Wax, Wayne, and Marasi were caught up in an explosion in his study, set off by his butler in a botched attempt to assassinate him.[23]

Eventually discovering the location of the Vanishers' hideout and confirming Hundredlives' involvement, Wax began forming a plan to take down the unbeatable, former lawman.[24] Focusing his attention on puzzling out the Vanishers' peculiar robbery methods, Wax was taken by surprise when the Vanishers attacked his train en route back to Elendel.[25] Wounded in the attack and shaken by Hundredlives' claim that the real evil in the world is the corruption of Elendel itself[5], Waxillium escaped to Ranette's house, where he obtained Hazekiller bullets and a new prototype revolver, Vindication.[26]

“Wax thinks like a lawkeeper. This is the best way to find our hideout—stay with the cargo you know will be stolen, even if you're not sure precisely how. No. He'll have guessed how we're doing it. That's the risk of being as good as he is. As good as I was. You start to think like a criminal.”

Correctly deducing the Vanishers' next target, Wax set Wayne and Marasi to work, zeroing in on the protection of Lord Tekiel's next shipment train, which included the new, Breaknaught cargo car. Infiltrating the car just before the predicted robbery took place, Wax allowed himself to be taken to the Vanishers' lair.[28] Making use of a large amount of dynamite smuggled alongside him in the Breaknaught, Waxillium fought his way through the Vanishers' hideout, unfortunately losing Vindication in the fray. Successfully springing a trap made specially to capture Hundredlives, Wax was then forced to flee when the outlaw opted to blow himself up with a personal explosive, rather than be captured. Escaping into the mists, Waxillium briefly experienced a conversation with Harmony, which culminated in the realization that Harmony had worked behind the scenes to orchestrate the delivery of Wax's old, lost weapons to the Vanishers' hideout, just in time to help.[29]

Newly re-armed, Wax located and rescued Steris, killed numerous members of the Vanishers gang, and destroyed their hideout with a tremendous feat of Metalborn power. As the building collapsed, several surviving Vanishers, led by the now fully-healed, Miles Hundredlives, held Marasi at gunpoint. Refusing to freeze up and lose another woman's life to the same type of standoff, Wax called for Wayne to create a speed bubble. Firing at the Vanisher through the speed bubble, Wax compensated for the unavoidable veering of the time-slowed bullet by firing a second time, in an incredibly aimed shot which struck his first bullet and caused it to ricochet directly into the thug's head. Miles and an already injured Wax squared off, with Hundredlives beating Wax mercilessly. Waxillium held on, taking the punishment of Miles' blows as Marasi secretly held them in a time bubble. Wax successfully distracted the outlaw, laying all of his hopes on the absent Wayne, who finally returned, having surrounded the three of them with Elendel's constables.[30]

After the surviving Vanishers were taken into custody and interrogated, Waxillium recognized the description of a man working with Miles whom they called "Mister Suit," which led him to believe they were talking about his supposed late uncle, Edwarn Ladrian. Following up on a lead to Suit's current whereabouts, Wax boarded a train at Dryport and confirmed his suspicions. Confronting his uncle face to face, Waxillium demanded that Edwarn give up the location of the other women the Vanishers had kidnapped. Unthreatened, Edwarn welcomed Wax to attempt to expose his operation, as there was no real proof pointing to the old man's involvement. Wax listened as his uncle chastised him for his purported self-righteousness, just as he did when Wax was a child. When Wax moved to take matters into his own hands, Edwarn called in his men, who threw Wax off the back of the train--but not before Wax swiped his uncle's appointment book.[31]

Newly rescued, Steris suggested to Wax that their shared ordeal afforded the two of them an opportunity to speed up their marriage contract and announce their engagement much sooner then previously planned. Initially hesitant, Wax agreed that the couple should move forward with Steris' suggestion, endeavoring to push away any potentially romantic thoughts of Marasi and bury his painful memories of Lessie.[32]

Due to his invaluable contributions toward the resolution of the Vanishers case, Wax was granted a citywide deputized forbearance by the Elendel Senate as well as certain allowances to practice his Roughs-style justice in the city.[32]

Months later, while Steelpushing through the crowded city streets in hot pursuit of a bank robber known as the Marksman (an Allomancer connected with the Set who featured in Edwarn's appointment book) Wax was stunned and deeply disturbed to recognize the face of an onlooker on the sidewalk below--Bloody Tan, Lessie's murderer.[33] Shaken and unable to locate Tan among the crowds, Wax enlisted the help of Wayne and Marasi to continue the chase into the Breakouts. Eventually catching Marks, Wax was prevented from bringing the man in for questioning when Marks was suddenly killed by an assassin's crossbow.[34]

Approached by a number of constables who arrived late on the scene, Wax learned that Constable-General Claude Aradel would like to quietly enlist his assistance in investigating the recent murder of Elendel Governer Replar Innate's brother, Winsting, who had been killed among thirty of Elendel's most notorious criminals. Examining the scene, Wax determined that Winsting was stabbed by someone familiar to the man, citing the location of the killings, the position of the bodies, and the sheer number of victims--details which also dictated that Feruchemically enhanced speed would have been required to perform the grisly feat. Wax steeled himself, knowing he was now on the trail of a Steelrunner.[35]

Starting his search in the best place to find word of a rogue Feruchemist, Wax visited the TerrisVillage to obtain the counsel of his grandmother, Vwafendal. Recognizing the name Idashwy, a Steelrunner from his past who had recently left the Village, Wax continued his investigation elsewhere, enlisting Wayne's help to discover the woman's address in the city.[8] Blindsided by another momentary glimpse of Bloody Tan on the crowded streets, Wax began to doubt his own senses. Shaking off the distraction, Wax joined Wayne in discovering Idashwy's corpse, laying in her kitchen with a large hole bored through her chest. Having spent great amounts of time studying a book gifted to him by Ironeyes himself,[31] Wax recognized the likelihood of Idashwy having been the victim of the creation of a Hemalurgic spike. Guessing that the killer used the spike to steal her Feruchemical speed, Wax was surprised to find a note written to himself hidden in the victim's pocket. On the note were some of the last words Bloody Tan said to him, back in the Roughs.[12]

Needing time to think, Wax rode alone in his carriage, driven by Hoid. Casually musing upon whether his Pathian earring may have once been a Hermalurgic spike, Wax placed it into his ear. Immediately, Harmony spoke to Wax directly--careful to reassure him that he had not gone insane. Harmony admitted that the earring was a spike, which was the reason they were able to converse. Additionally, Harmony explained that Wax's earlier sightings of Bloody Tan were real and not imagined, though the murderer Wax had been chasing all this time was not a man, but actually a Faceless Immortal using Tan's bones, named Bleeder.[36]

While attending Lady ZoBell's party with Steris, Wax met MeLaan, a Faceless Immortal sent to help in the hunt for Bleeder by Harmony himself. In between chats with various nobility of the city, Wax began to hear a new voice in his head--mocking him and the people of Elendel. Wax soon realized he was hearing the voice of Bleeder, who had somehow learned to use the same Hermalurgic connection to him that Harmony had.[37] Using their connection to discover Bleeder's location at the party, Wax attempted to apprehend her, giving chase out a window and through the Mists of the city outside.[38]

His pursuit of Bleeder waylaid by a dozen armed men, Wax was convinced that she must be aligned with the Set. Wax listened closely as Bleeder spoke in his mind of her plans to kill the governor and free the city from Harmony's influence, but first she claimed she would need to murder Wax's father. Guessing that she must have been threatening Lord Harms' life, Wax raced across the city, spiriting the old man and Steris to separate, secret locations. Finally believing he had moved one step ahead of Bleeder, Wax reported to Governor Innate to warn him of the dire threat to his life, only to discover that during his absence Bleeder had brutally killed Father Bin, the Survivorist priest who was to perform his marriage ceremony to Steris.[39]

Tracking Bleeder's path, Wax located the carriage she had used to escape the scene of the killing. Inside, Wax found traces of Perchwither, a substance only found in the Homeland of the Faceless Immortals.[40] Puzzled, Wax followed her trail back to the Governor's mansion. Once close enough to her location, Bleeder's voice immediately returned to his mind, keen to convince Wax that Harmony did not care and was only using him. Sowing doubt, Bleeder asked Wax to attempt to explain why Harmony had failed to step in and save Lessie's life. Distracted, Wax was unable to prevent Bleeder from using her stolen Steelrunner abilities to attack Innate's chambers. By the time Wax arrived, Bleeder had already disappeared, though thankfully leaving the governor alive. Looking closer, Wax found another message from Bleeder, this time written in the blood of her latest kill.[41]

“I rip out his tongue to stop the lies. I stab out his eyes to hide from his gaze. You will be free.”

Seeking more information on Bleeder, Wax entered the museum in the Field of Rebirth. Locating the secret path through the historical atium mines, Wax entered the cavern leading to the Homeland, and encountered TenSoon, legendary wolfhound of the Ascendant Warrior. TenSoon told Wax much of Bleeder's history and showed him a torn up and desecrated copy of the Words of Founding--the product of one of her last acts before leaving the Homeland and evidence of her descent into madness.[42] Wax and TenSoon found themselves chased from the Homeland by the sudden appearance of Hemalurgic chimeras--deformed humans under Bleeder's control--but not before Wax came to realize the full scope of her plan. She didn't want to simply kill the governor; she wanted to incite a city-wide riot.[43] Wax immediately returned to Innate's mansion, intent on saving his life once and for all. After entering the governor's study, Wax noticed a carefully placed gumball, which he recognized to be a sign of trouble, left for him by Wayne. Immediately realizing the truth--that Bleeder had been secretly impersonating the governor the entire time--Wax pulled out his gun. Bleeder opened fire first, killing Innate's guards as she escaped out the window.[44]

Steelpushing through the night after Bleeder, Wax easily found her, changing bodies again just before she moved to escape. Finally confronting her on the Eastbridge, Wax saw that Bleeder had pointed her gun at him, but she did not fire. With tears in her eyes, she pleaded with Wax to forsake Harmony and be free. Wax ignored the pain he felt, seeing that Bleeder was now wearing the face of his dead wife, Lessie. He did his best not to listen to how well Bleeder could mimic Lessie's voice and mannerisms. Wax levelled Vindication and shot her in the head with the bullet from the gun's special chamber. The bullet had been made to his request by Ranette, molded from his Pathian earring. It was designed to give Bleeder a second spike, allowing Harmony to reassert Hemalurgic control over the mad kandra.[45]

Bleeder screamed that she would not be controlled again. As she died in Wax's arms, having terminated her own life to prevent Harmony from returning her to his service, Bleeder begged Wax to ask Harmony why he originally sent her to protect him, back in the Roughs. Telling Wax that she loved him, she demanded to know why, if Harmony was such a wonderful, all-knowing god, he would use Wax to kill her. Too late, Wax realized that the woman he had shot was not just Bleeder, an insane murderer and Faceless Immortal who looked like Lessie; she was Lessie.[46]

In the weeks that followed, Wax bitterly grieved his wife's final death, greatly distancing himself from Harmony for keeping Bleeder's identity secret from him. Forsaking even the mists he used to cherish, Wax largely shied away from his public responsibilities, showing little interest in following up on the city intrigues Wayne, MeLaan, and Marasi had uncovered while Bleeder's plan unraveled. Offering little in the manner of resistance, Wax even agreed to postpone the wedding with Steris as he flirted with surrendering to his depression.[47]

“In the back of his noggin, he'll be relieved that I stopped the wedding. He'll figure it was me, deep in his subcontinence, and will pay for the damages—no matter what the assessor says. And he won't say anything, won't even investigate. Watch.”

Six months later, spurred on by a slowly growing bond with Steris and determined not to remain in the same well of despair that had tried to claim him when he lost Lessie the first time, Wax had returned to the pursuit of his constabulary duties with Wayne.[6] When the day of his wedding with Steris arrived, Wax found himself pursued once again by a member of Harmony's kandra; this one claiming to have a matter of great importance to discuss. Rebuffing him, Wax continued on to the Survivorist church where he walked down the aisle with Steris, whose genuine tears moved him in a way he did not expect. Realizing he was still not ready to let go of Lessie's memory, Wax was blessedly spared the need for any further heartbreak when a water tower outside suddenly tipped onto the roof of the church, bathing all those in attendance and postponing the ceremony once again, much to Wax's relief.[48]

Wax unholstered Vindication and downed a new vial of metals as he returned to Ladrian mansion later that day; the telltale clues of intrusion in his own home had quickly brought him to high alert. Discovering that this newest threat turned out to be nothing more than the same kandra as before, now seated in Wax's own study, had done little to encourage him to lower his pistol. The kandra, VenDell, of the sixth generation, had successfully ensnared Marasi and Wayne in his appeal for assistance, but Wax believed that VenDell had done so simply as another way to entangle him into the affair, while ignoring his earlier refusal. Pouncing on Wax's curiosity, VenDell produced an evanoscope, which he used to engage him in a presentation on the nature of Investiture and Identity, as well as the myth of the Bands of Mourning. Wax's patience wearing thin, VenDell explained that these evanotype images had been taken by another kandra, ReLuur, who was obsessed with the Bands and convinced they were Identity-less metalminds which held the potential to grant anyone Metalborn powers to rival those of the Lord Ruler. Dismissing the idea outright, Wax was shocked to see another evanotype impressed with an image of his sister, Telsin, who was being dragged somewhere against her will. VenDell informed him that ReLuur had been accosted by the same thugs in New Seran, where one of his spikes had been stolen. Convinced of the danger and worried for his sister, Wax agreed to help.[49]

“What is it about you that makes me want to punch you, even when you're saying something helpful?”

With real proof that his sister was alive for the first time in years, Wax knew he was being manipulated into doing Harmony's bidding again; though this time, he endeavored to step in with his eyes wide open. Wax categorically rejected VenDell's extended gifting of another Pathian earring. He would do this on his own, without Harmony's voice in his ear.[50]

Joined on the train to New Seran by Steris, who was becoming increasingly familiar and useful company, Wax soon found it difficult to interrupt her intense reading of a book. He needed to mine her keen knowledge of local politics and slake his curiosity after he noticed increased protests of Elendel's tariffs, visible out the windows as they passed through the outer cities. Distracting her further, Wax was delighted to finally catch a glimpse of what had earlier held Steris' attention so doggedly--she had been reading a book on basic human reproduction. Mortified, Steris attempted to change the subject, but the discovery only added to Wax's growing affection for the woman.[51]

Feeling the train car suddenly slowing, Wax sprang into action. Guessing rightly that robbers had disconnected their car, he leaped to the tracks below and then tapped his metalmind to greatly increase his weight, which allowed him to Steelpush the train car back down the tracks fast enough to reconnect. Wax pushed himself back onto the train, which was already being boarded by a large group of gunmen on horseback.[52] Leaving Steris in Marasi's care, Wax fought his way through the train, eventually squaring off against, a huge Metalborn brute, whose large bulk turned out to be a great target for Ranette's latest gift to Wax's arsenal--an Allomantically-triggered hook device which proved particularly well suited to throwing people from a train.[53]

After securing the train and allowing a doctor to tend to his wounds at Ironstand station, Wax began to worry that the still missing Wayne might have been seriously hurt or incapacitated in the battle. Wax's concern soon melted to annoyance when his long search of the train turned up both Wayne and MeLaan who were holed up together in a private compartment, groggy from a tussle of their own.[54]

Eventually arriving in New Seran, Wax and Steris agreed that the best way to begin their investigation was to attend a ball at the home of Lady Kelesina Shores, where they would be sure to scrape as much information as possible from the city's upper crust. As they approached the mansion, Wax gave a bank note to a well spoken beggar[55], who insisted he take in exchange a strange coin, made of two different metals, branded with the face of a man spiked through one eye, and covered in symbols that Wax could not read. Separating, the two mingled among the elite and gathered what rumors they could, including some regarding a hushed building project that may have involved Allomancers, north east of the city. Gruff around the edges as ever, and surrounded by as practiced liars and thieves as he had ever faced before, Wax knew he still had a lot to learn about politics. Still, he gained more information than he expected, even detecting that there was more going on with Lady Kelesina than she let on. Interrupted just as he was about to extend an invitation to Lady Felise Demoux, Wax instead shared a dance with Khriss, who was excited to question Wax extensively about his particular pairing of Feruchemical and Allomantic abilities. Pushing for more information than seemed proper, and displaying an uncomfortably high level of knowledge of his powers, Khriss increased Wax's already heavy suspicions, as he returned to asking other guests of the party questions of his own.[56]

Sensing that Lady Kelesina was making a quick escape from the party, Wax scrambled to find a way to exit in pursuit, without alerting anyone that he was following. Ever prepared, Steris armed Wax with a pistol she had snuck into the dance and then produced the requisite distraction, from the bottom of a vial of ipecac.[57] Following as carefully as possible, Wax caught up to Kelesina deep in her mansion, where he overheard the unmistakable voice of his uncle through the door to her bedroom. Wax listened as Edwarn detailed his involvement in both the train robbery from the day before as well as further plans to stymie Wax and keep him off his trail.[58] Bursting through the door without any hesitation, Wax was immediately disarmed by Kelesina's pewter-burning steward. Beckoned by Edwarn, whose words were actually emitted from an odd voice projector sitting in the room, the steward turned and murdered Kelesina with Wax's gun, tidily implicating him, a visiting noble from Elendel, in the assassination of one of New Seran's political elite.

With the timely arrival of MeLaan, Wax fought his way out of the mansion and escaped with Steris, who he found waiting for him behind a shrub outside. Taking her close, Wax Steelpushed their way straight up into the sky and through the evening mists, which gave way to the breathtaking view of The Ascendant's Field, where they shared a quiet moment of mutual respect and kissed above the clouds.[59]

Staying ahead of the local authorities and following up on their only lead from the party, Wax rode a stagecoach toward the construction site to the northeast. Along the way, he helped Marasi field test the cube device she had taken from the train robbers, which they took to calling an Allomantic grenade as it seemed to somehow extend the area of effect of its user's Allomancy. At the construction site, Wax, Wayne, MeLaan, and Marasi successfully infiltrated the perimete, discovering that a large, nondescript building was actually a facade, covering up Edwarn's real effort in New Seran--the apparent construction of a huge, wooden warship.[60]

Splitting from Marasi and MeLaan, who went in search of ReLuur's stolen spike, Wax and Wayne entered the warship, determined to locate Edwarn himself. Using a spyglass borrowed from MeLaan, Wax immediately changed their plan when he located the chamber where Telsin was being held. Easily bypassing the workmen and engineers blocking his path, Wax quietly entered the room dead set on saving his sister. Finally reunited, Wax was surprised when Telsin immediately took brutal retribution on one of her captors. The years had really changed her just as, he supposed, they had changed him.[61] Fighting their way out, accompanied by a generous helping of speed bubble assistance from Wayne, Wax joined in a grand escape after Allik, a masked man that Marasi had rescued, revealed the existence of a second, smaller ship which could detach from the main vessel and lift into the sky.[62]

“You were always the quiet one. The thoughtful one. How did you get here? I... Your face, Waxillium. You're old.”

Briefly stopping their ship to pick up Steris, Wax and Marasi pored over a notebook that she stole from Edwarn, which seemed to show the location of a second work site, south of their position. This corroborated Telsin's claims that Edwarn had been obsessively working to find a great weapon in the south that promised to give the Set the ability to dominate the whole of the Basin. Telsin warned Wax that their uncle had set off to retrieve the weapon not long ago; it was clear that there wasn't much time. Marasi's notebook also included a map showing a temple marked for excavation in the peaks of the southern mountains, which reignited the palpable fear that the Set could be dangerously close to obtaining the fabled Bands of Mourning, just as VenDell had warned back in Elendel.[3]

Taking advantage of their more efficient form of travel, Wax's group arrived on the mountain peaks soundly before Edwarn and his men could complete their slow climb through the snow. Locating the temple from Marasi's notebook, Wax ventured inside, proceeding with caution after he encountered the scattered remains of treasure hunters who had been there before him. Making grand use of MeLaan's nigh-invincibility, Wax and Allik worked slowly through the temple's ancient security system, safely triggering traps that would have spelled certain death for any other group of trespassers.[64]

Halted by a door which was inscribed with writing that none of them could decipher, Wax returned to the entrance of the temple, where Steris, Marasi, and Wayne held Edwarn at gunpoint; his expedition had arrived at the temple just before Wax's return. Edwarn claimed to know the secret to opening the temple's final door and threatened Wax that he had an overwhelming force of Allomancers and goons surrounding the temple who would not hesitate to kill every member of Wax's pitiful group, unless he was allowed to join them in collecting the Bands.[65] When the temple's last chamber proved to be missing the Bands, Wax suddenly found himself in an armed standoff with Telsin, who he had rightly suspected to be a mole for the Set. Both siblings fired at once; Wax's bullet went wild and missed, but Telsin's shot hit Wax just below the neck. A number of bullets later, Wax fell into a pit below the Bands' supposed resting chamber.[66] Trailing blood and weakening by the moment, Wax was soon tracked down by Edwarn, now fully revealed as an Allomancer, by way Hemalurgic spikes. Edwarn cruelly triggered another of the temple's traps, which collapsed the roof and crushed Wax's already wounded body under a punishing avalanche of rubble. In a daze, Wax was forced to watch helplessly as his uncle approached, unholstering his pistol and intent on finishing him off. When Wayne arrived to attempt his rescue and broke down at the sight of him, Wax used his remaining breath to tell his friend to go on living and keep fighting. No longer able to hold on, Waxillium Ladrian died.[67]

“Wax clenched his jaw, but couldn't force down the trembling that took him. He lived it again, holding her as she died. Knowing he'd killed her. That hatred seethed inside of him. Hatred for Harmony. Hatred for the world. And yes. Hatred for himself.”

Immediately, Wax found himself in the presence of Harmony. Face to face with the god he had shunned for so long, Wax did not shirk away; instead, Wax laid into Harmony for his inaction that had led to so many people suffering. He chastised him for using Wax all these years with what appeared to be so little regard. He demanded an explanation for what happened to Lessie. Together, the two of them philosophized on the nature of cause and effect. Harmony patiently explained that his workings were larger in scope than Wax could currently understand. He expanded Wax's worldview--literally showing him a representation of the planet and allowing him a small glimpse of the greater conflict in which he was currently embroiled. Allowing Wax to choose, Harmony offered him a chance at "another adventure," which Wax accepted. Wax opened his eyes and screamed, throwing the rubble from his body with the pure strength of steel itself. His body instantaneously healed, Wax focused his view on Marasi who had placed something like an oversized spearhead in his hand: the real Bands of Mourning, an unkeyed metalmind of nearly limitless power.[68]

Tapping the enormously potent metalmind inside the spearhead, Wax burst through the confines of the temple and out into the open air, trailing mist in his wake. Able to sense and call upon what seemed to be endless trace metals in the surrounding area, Wax knew that he could crush Edwarn and Telsin's fleeing ship with little effort. Bringing himself under control, Wax confronted his uncle for the final time, choosing to subdue him without the use of the spearhead's dangerous power.[1]

Wax finally returned to Elendel, where he gave over the spearhead into the hands of the Kandra. No longer willing to put it off, and ready to move on with his life, Wax convinced Steris to marry him in a quiet ceremony, highlighted by their newly blossomed love for each other.[4] On their honeymoon, Wax was suddenly awakened by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Wandering their suite, Wax found himself absently handling the dual metal coin that the beggar had given him, before the party in New Seran. Looking closely at the coin for what seemed like the first time, Wax hesitantly tested tapping it like a metalmind, which sprang to life a copper-stored memory, seemingly belonging to the mysterious Sovereign.[69]

Waxillium is a Crasher; a Coinshot and Skimmer Twinborn.[10] The combination of these abilities makes Waxillium a particularly dangerous individual since the strength of a Steelpush is largely dependent on the mass of the Allomancer.

Waxillium is an extremely skilled Coinshot.[10] Perhaps the biggest mark of his mastery is his ability to regulate the strength of his Steelpushes. Generally, Allomancers find it too hard to maintain a fine control over their Steelpushes, so instead most opt to regulate the length of the time of them. Levitating without bobbing up and down, for example, requires extreme discipline that few Allomancers can achieve; most use short bursts of Steelpushes, fall down, then Push again.[70] Waxillium is able to apply enough pressure on a small metal rod to make it stick to the side of a table without moving the table itself with ease.[21]

Wax also uses his ability to form a defensive bubble around himself that doesn't affect his own metal items but Pushes bullets coming at him off course slightly; to enhance the velocity of his bullets, Pushing them after being shot to force them through an opponents cover;[11] and to travel in the air, in combination with his Skimmer ability to regulate his mass.[10] Wax doesn't appear to use the most obvious ability of a Coinshot very often, as he had to be reminded that he could launch a bullet without a gun,[30] although he always uses steel for his third vest button as an extra metal reserve or to use as a weapon in emergencies.[23]

As a Skimmer, using iron metalminds, Wax can store his weight at the cost of being lighter than normal, and tap the storage to become heavier. Wax constantly stores his weight to make him about three-quarters of his normal weight, making him lighter on his feet. He also uses this ability to navigate vertically in combination with steelpushing and a shotgun. Wax doesn't tap into his weight very often, preferring to store it to be lighter, as a result, the sheer amount of weight he can tap in to allows him to quite easily fall straight through a floor with no effort. He uses this power to his advantage many times.

Waxillium has an earring with a slight Hemalurgic charge. It is unknown what type of charge it is. The earring is a feature of Pathism, adherents to the religion often wear metal earrings while praying. This enables Harmony to communicate directly with him.[19] It was given to him by the kandraMeLaan.[71]

Wax is a talented marksman, preferring to use two guns at once. He has been shown to shoot a bullet that was put off course by the speed bubble of a Slider, scoring a lethal shot as a result.[30] However, due to a traumatic misfire that resulted in the death of a loved one, Wax tends to act nervously when faced with hostage situations.

Wax also practices basic metallurgy as a hobby, and he is shown to be a talented investigator.

Wax was romantically involved with a female lawkeeper named Lessie out in the Roughs, but she was shot after being held hostage by the infamous criminal Bloody Tan.

Wax's best friend is Wayne, a fellow lawman from the Roughs. Wax helped Wayne turn his life around after Wayne accidentally shot and killed a man in a botched robbery attempt.

After returning to Elendel, Wax reluctantly enters into a marriage contract with Steris Harms, in order to benefit both their houses. Eventually, he becomes fascinated by her idiosyncrasies, leading them to fall in love and marry for emotional reasons.

“I saw it in his eyes, first. That hunger, that fire. And then I found it in myself. He's a flame, Waxillium is, and fire can be shared. When I'm out here, when I'm with him, I burn, Marasi. It's wonderful.
”

“I have known you for an entire year now, Lord Waxillium. I can accept you for who you are, but I am under no illusions. Something will happen at our wedding. A villain will burst in, guns firing. Or we'll discover explosives in the altar. Or Father Bin will inexplicably turn out to be an old enemy and attempt to murder you instead of performing the ceremony. It will happen.
”

“Steris, I think we're all like that. Shuffled from place to place by duty, or society, or God Himself. It seems like we're just along for the ride, even in our own lives. But once in a while, we do face a choice. A real one. We may not be able to choose what happens to us, or where we'll stop, but we point ourselves in a direction.
”